The criminal case against former chairman of the National Security Committee Karim Masimov and five other former high-ranking employees of this department has been completed. The indictment was drawn up and sent to the court. This was announced at a briefing by deputy head of the Criminal Prosecution Service of the Prosecutor General’s Office Yeldos Kilymzhanov.
According to him, Karim Masimov and his former deputy Anuar Sadykulov are charged under three articles of the Criminal Code: high treason, violent seizure of power, as well as abuse of power and official authority, which entailed grave consequences, in order to extract benefits and advantages for themselves and other persons.
Another ex-deputy chairman of the NSC, Daulet Yergozhin, has been charged with similar charges, but without high treason.
The remaining three former employees of the NSC – deputy chairman Marat Osipov, deputy head of the Department of the NSC Akipov D. and head of the Department of the NSC Bekmurat N. are only charged with abuse of power and official authority, which entailed grave consequences, in order to extract benefits and advantages for themselves and other persons.
As ACCA has already reported, the chairman of the NSC, Karim Masimov, was detained on January 8 this year on suspicion of high treason. The detention of Karim Masimov took place against the backdrop of the January tragedy, which engulfed almost all major cities of Kazakhstan. The protest actions, which began as peaceful rallies, very quickly turned into riots to pacify which the President of the republic, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, gave the order to ‘shoot without warning’. As a result of clashes, according to official figures, 238 people were killed, over 10 thousand people were detained. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev officially stated that the real cause of the January riots was an attempted coup.
On January 10, Masimov’s deputies Daulet Yergozhin and Marat Osipov were dismissed and subsequently detained. In addition to them, other high-ranking officials of the National Security Committee were also detained. All criminal cases were classified as ‘top secret’.
As Yeldos Kilymzhanov has noted at the briefing, the trial in the case of Karim Masimov and the other above-mentioned NSC’s officers will also be classified top secret.
He also added that the former heads of the territorial departments of the NSC in Almaty city, Almaty and Kyzylorda regions, as well as the former heads of the Police Department of Almaty region and the linear Police Department of Almaty airport are now getting acquainted with the materials of the pre-trial investigation. In addition, two criminal cases have already been sent to court against eight police officers on the fact of using unlawful methods of investigation in Taldykorgan and Almaty.
It’s worth recalling that the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, promised to grant amnesty to the participants in the January events.
“I have decided to conduct a one-time amnesty for the participants in the January events. Of course, the amnesty will not affect the main defendants involved in organizing the riots, as well as those accused of high treason and an attempted violent change of power. Persons, who have committed terrorist and extremist crimes, recidivists, and those who have used torture, will not fall under the amnesty. Having shown humanism, we, as the nation, will learn the lessons from this tragedy and will not allow its repetition,” Tokayev said in his annual message to the people of the country.
According to Yeldos Kilymzhanov, about 1,500 people will fall under the amnesty. “To date, the bodies executing punishment have sent submissions to the courts on the reduction of the term and release of 878 convicts from punishment. The investigating authorities at the pre-trial stage terminated criminal prosecution against 5 suspects of committing crimes of medium gravity. The rest of the people have committed grave and especially grave crimes, for which the amnesty will be applied by the court. They will have their sentences reviewed,” explained the Deputy Head of the Criminal Prosecution Service under the Prosecutor General’s Office.
He also cited the sad statistics of the January tragedy: 1151 citizens were injured; 3998 law enforcement officers suffered damage. More than 5000 pre-trial investigations were registered. Among them – 29 cases on the fact of terrorism, 131 – on riots, 146 – on murders.
41 members of organized crime groups, 126 people with criminal records and 46 members of banned extremist organizations were arrested.
The damage to the country’s economy amounted to more than $210 million. Of these, about $193 million is damage to business entities.
Meanwhile, in mid-October, the UN working Group on arbitrary detention asked the government of Kazakhstan to take steps to secure the immediate and unconditional release of Karim Masimov. According to members of the working group, Masimov’s imprisonment was carried out in violation of several articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
“The proper remedy would be to release Masimov immediately and give him the right to compensation and other reparations in accordance with international law. The working group calls on the government to ensure a full and independent investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Masimov’s arbitrary deprivation of liberty and to take appropriate action against those responsible for violating his rights,” the working group’s resolution says.
In turn, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan urged not to politicize this issue.
“In accordance with the opinion adopted on October 18, Kazakhstan should provide a response within six months, that is, until April 18, 2023. At present, the relevant state bodies are working on preparing a reasoned response to this opinion, which is of a recommendatory nature. The Kazakh side gives comprehensive answers in compliance with all international practice and in accordance with national legislation. An important point is the openness of our side to discuss the issues without excessive politicization and with specific facts,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan commented on the statement of the UN working group.
